There was a time I hated editing. There was a time I thought all the fun was in ferrying my ideas into reality, in writing them on paper for the first time around. I thought the thrill of discovery, and that strange feeling I experienced—of tapping into some mysterious sort of alternate reality—was all I cared about. But then, blunt and irreverent, time barged in as it always does. And much to my chagrin it showed me I was mistaken. In…

It’s essential to have some hobbies and interests to help us restore our vital juices when they’re running low. I love reading and writing. Actually, some books, I’m so glad I’ve read them I consider myself a lucky person. Just for that. But no matter how deep my love for reading and writing is, I could never sit at my desk for hours and hours every single day. And keep on reading and writing. Fact is, after a while I’ve…

Doodle number one. Using the graphic tablet. Hargh! Writing can be incredibly rewarding. Especially when we have just finished, really finished a work, and congratulating ourselves for the feat. Alas, writing can also be a grueling experience. I mean, there are days, at times even weeks, we seem utterly unable to find even the most basic word to convey the ideas floating about in our mind. From this perspective it’s no wonder Kurt Vonnegut said when he wrote he felt…

You have heard it a million times at least. First drafts are always bad. First drafts suck. First drafts are shitty. Really, you can choose any disparaging adjective and rest assured someone already stated that first drafts are just that too. However, all this clamor doesn’t prove that first drafts must necessarily be always so bad. For example, it could simply be that a lot of people like to repeat a catchy phrase. That they love being involuntary vectors of…

Some years ago, after I repeatedly found myself still playing at five o’clock in the morning, I had to wipe Skirim off my hard drive. When I did, the deinstallation program asked me if I wanted to keep my saved games, and I immediately clicked no—to prevent second thoughts from taking shape into my mind and persuade me that the saved games were just harmless files that I could keep and be safe nonetheless. To this day, the same happens…

Having a list of goals can be a great way to make us as productive as possible. But like everything else in life, if we overdo it, we run the risk of ending up with nothing to show for our shiny list of goals. In fact, a list of goals should be as laser-focused as short. For example, if we want to increase our writing output, it’s doubtful at best the usefulness of adding to our list something like running…